Michael Douglas reveals: Oral sex caused my throat cancer

By Tim Molloy, Reuters

Posted:
06/03/2013 05:02:59 AM PDT

Updated:
06/03/2013 05:06:25 AM PDT

(L-R) Cast member Michael Douglas, producer Jerry Weintraub, screenwriter Richard LaGravenese, cast member Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso leave after the screening of the film "Behind the Candelabra" in competition during the 66th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes May 21, 2013. (REGIS DUVIGNAU)

Michael Douglas told the British newspaper The Guardian that his throat cancer was caused by contracting HPV through cunnilingus, the paper said.

The idea of an A-lister bluntly attributing cancer to oral sex may sound surprising, but doctors do believe there is a link between oral sex with an infected person and throat cancer. Douglas' apparent frankness should dramatically increase awareness of the threat.

Douglas discussed the source of his cancer when the paper asked the "Behind the Candelabra" actor if he regretted years of smoking and drinking -- suggesting that they may have been the cause.

"No," the paper reported him saying. "Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus."

A representative for the actor did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Douglas, who is married to Catherine Zeta Jones, said he worried his son Cameron's battle with drugs might have exacerbated his stress, the paper said: "I did worry if the stress caused by my son's incarceration didn't help trigger it. But yeah, it's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it."

The 68-year-old actor says is now free of cancer, and has earned raves for his portrayal of Liberace in the HBO film. He was diagnosed in 2010.

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HPV was long known to cause genital warts and cervical cancer, but recent evidence indicates an increase in anal and oral cancers as well because of the virus.